1. Human Ecology Department Arehna Workshop Health and Mobility Kos, 3-5 May, 2003 Health and Mobility in Flanders (Belgium) Pascal Lammar and Luc Hens Human Ecology Department Vrije Universiteit Brussel Laarbeeklaan 103, B-1090 Brussels, Belgium [T] +32-2-477.42.81 [F] +32-2-477.49.64 [E] human.ecology@vub.ac.be [W] http://www.vub.ac.be/MEKO

2. Human Ecology Department Flanders (Belgium) General characteristics : Flanders = Northern Belgium Population: 5 952 552 inhabitants Population density: 440 persons/km 2 Surface area: 13 522 km 2 Road density: 5020 m/km 2 Railway density: 127 m/km 2 Waterway density: 80 m/km 2

3. Human Ecology Department Environmental pressures (1) Trend% change emissions (1990-2000) Trend% change emissions (1990-2000) 1. Greenhouse gases CO 2  +13 (total)  +24 (traffic)  +24 (traffic) CH 4  -2 (total) CH 4  -2 (total)  +29 (traffic) N 2 O  +8 (total) N 2 O  +8 (total)  +163 (traffic)

4. Human Ecology Department Environmental pressures (2) Trend % Period Trend % Period change emissions change emissions 2. Acidification SO 2  -54 (total) 1990-2001 NO x  -4 (total) 1990-2001 NO x  -4 (total) 1990-2001 Total acidifying emissions  -36 (total) 1990-2001  -1 (traffic) 1990-2001  -1 (traffic) 1990-2001 3. Ground-level ozone O 3  +4/year 1991-2000 (background concentration)

5. Human Ecology Department Environmental pressures (3) Trend % Period change emissions change emissions 4. VOCBenzene  -50 1994-2000 5. PAHBaP  1990-2000 Total PAH  -40 1990-2000

6. Human Ecology Department Environmental pressures (4) Trend % Period Trend % Period of seriously affected people of seriously affected people 6. Noise Road traffic  +3 1996-2001 Air traffic  -54 1996-2001 Air traffic  -54 1996-2001 Railway traffic  0 1990-2001 Railway traffic  0 1990-2001

7. Human Ecology Department Health effects (1) Pollutant Health effect Health impact in Flanders Benzene cancer (leukaemia) 36 extra leukaemia cases a year BaP cancer 7 extra cancer deaths a year Ozone (O 3 ) mortality 900 extra deaths a year hospital admissions 800 a year hospital admissions 800 a year asthma attacks1 million a year asthma attacks1 million a year symptom days24 million a year symptom days24 million a year

8. Human Ecology Department Health effects (2) Pollutant Health effect Health impact in Flanders PM10mortalityat least 1095 extra deaths a year life years lostone healthy life year a person is lost at lifetime exposure Noisepotential awakenings2 129 000 a night potentially seriously > 1 000 000 people affected people (mental health effects, possibly increased blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases)

9. Human Ecology Department Health effects (3) Pollutant Health effect Health impact in Flanders PM10, NO 2 Chronic mortality11 900 lost life years and SO 2 Heart failure260 cases Chronic bronchitis1300 cases Lower respiratory complaints140 000 cases Coughing302 000 cases Restricted activity1 346 000 days

10. Human Ecology Department Most important health challenges 1. Particulate matter (PM10) concentrations 2. Regional ozone concentrations (summer smog) 3. Noise

11. Human Ecology Department Arehna Workshop Health and Mobility Kos, 3-5 May, 2003 Health and Mobility in Flanders (Belgium) Pascal Lammar and Luc Hens Human Ecology Department Vrije Universiteit Brussel Laarbeeklaan 103, B-1090 Brussels, Belgium [T] +32-2-477.42.81 [F] +32-2-477.49.64 [E] human.ecology@vub.ac.be [W] http://www.vub.ac.be/MEKO